Lewis Hamilton says he can understand Charles Leclerc’s wish to be treated equally with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.
On Thursday, the fallout continued from the last race in Sochi, when the Monegasque was frustrated by his teammate again, this time after Seb ignored an order to let him through per a pre-arranged plan.
Though the message from the Italian team is one of unity since then, the world champion believes the fact such a plan was created in the first place shows the shifting allegiance at the Scuderia.
“It’s an interesting dynamic they have there because obviously the Seb was No.1 and now clearly not,” Hamilton was quoted by RaceFans.
“From the energy, from the outlook, [it looks like] they’re trying to ramp Charles up to be [the lead driver].
“Is that good for a team? I don’t think so, but that’s the philosophy they’ve had for forever.”
Hamilton has been in Leclerc’s shoes before though, going up against a multiple-time world champion very early in his career, and he drew comparisons with what was his increasingly turbulent year alongside Fernando Alonso in 2007.
“I’ve not had a team back the other side so much, so heavily, before,” he admitted. “Obviously, when I was with Fernando he was the hired No.1, but then mid-season they changed that.
“I do understand [Leclerc] because ultimately when you arrive you want to have equal opportunity, I think, but there are drivers that always wanted that No.1 status.
“It’s easier for them but I like to earn that. Start on an equal platform, then either of you can get that number one status on that weekend: Weekend in, weekend out, rather than [over] the course of the season.”
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When it was suggested though that Ferrari’s internal disharmony could benefit Mercedes going forward, Hamilton disagreed.
“No, because I don’t think we need help, that’s not the way that I look at things,” he explained.
“We want them to be at their best so we can challenge them at their best and ultimately if we can beat them at their best then it just makes it feel better.
“I think they are a formidable force and are doing an incredible job at the moment and they are going to be very hard to beat at the remaining races.
“They’ve obviously clicked with this package and it will be interesting to see how that unfolds into next year’s car because again, it’s an evolution of this year’s car.
“I think hopefully we will have an even closer season next year but these next five races, it will be interesting to see how that relationship evolves.”